making news on this monday, november 15th. new reality. the president and congress return to washington with one major issue on the agenda, whether to extend those bush era tax cuts. seaside explosion at a luxury resort popular with americans. the breakfast time blast and debris. even bodies flying. and a new view of sarah palin. her reality show debuts. but will it help or hurt her chances for a political future? good morning, everyone. thanks for being with us on this monday. congress returns to work now in

just a few hours and for some mens it starts the final few weeks for them at the capitol. >> the replacements began to arrive. orientation is under way for new members before their swearing in in january. >> there's a lot to get to in just a short amount of time. emily schmidt has details from washington. hi, emily. >> vinita and rob, good morning to you. if the midterm election sent a message to lawmakers, today's beginning of the lame duck session is the first to see if that message is actually sinking in. this monday morning means back to work for many in congress soon to be out of work. after democrats lost dozens of seats in the midterm elections. president obama reflected on the vote on air force one. returning from a ten-day trip from asia. >> in that obsessive focus on policy, i neglected some things that matter a lot to people and rightly so. >> reporter: the president said he will tell republican leaders voters didn't give them a mandate for gridlock.

but there's plenty of division, especially about tax cuts that expire at the end of next month. >> i don't think there's any room to negotiate on raising taxes, particularly on smaller businesses. i hope we can get a permanent extension. >> what if we moved it up to $1 million? everyone below $1 million will get a tax cut. but the millionaires and billionaires won't. >> reporter: other challenges, lifting the don't ask, don't tell me policy. voting on a strategic russian missile deal, and banning earmarks, a popular call for incoming freshmen. >> it's time to finally hit the ground running and start to do the people's work. >> reporter: orientation for new members of congress is under way, they're overwhelmingly republican, many cite tea party support. >> i had a lot of tea party support in my district. >> our friends in the tea party are patriots. >> had a lot of support from tea party members because a lot of the things i was saying they agreed with. >> the lame duck session will stretch this week and continue again after thanksgiving.

it extends until lawmakers are done or gridlocked. vinita and rob. >> and obviously a very political climate on capitol hill. how does the president plan to deal with that? >> the president talked about that on air force one. he said some things have to get tackled. tax cuts and also a spending bill so the government can keep running. but he also says, after that time, that's right. there will be plenty of time for the phil soficcal, political debates. >> thank you. two washington newcomers will actually get to start their new jobs today. chris coons of delaware and manchin of delaware will be sworn in as new u.s. senators. coons beat christine o'donnell. manchin fills the seat of the late senator robert byrd. a mysterious kidnapping case in columbus, ohio, a 13-year-old girl was found gagged and bound in a basement on sunday. but her mother, a brother and a family friend are still missing.

matthew hoffman is accused in the kidnapping and more charges are likely in a court appearance later today. we'll have much more on the disappearance later in this half hour. and other news, a deadly explosion at a popular mexican tourist resort is being blamed on a buildup of natural gas. five canadian tourists and two mex an workers were killed yesterday when that blast ripped through the luxury lounge in the hotel in cancun. the blast sent the floor through the ceiling and rattled diners in nearby restaurants. >> reporter: where we were sitting, the whole restaurant has a half-inch wall all the way around. there was a very large bang and seconds later, the windows were blown in and shattered everywhere. >> investigators believe the gas emitted from a swampy area under the lounge. they're now checking to see if the building which sat on a concrete pad had been properly constructed. after more than a year of being held captive by pirates in

somalia, a retired british couple is finally free. rachel and paul chandler were taken hostage after sailing off the somali coast last october. even though they say they are thin, they are fine. friends and relatives reportedly raised $400,000 for their release. in saudi arabia, the pilgrimage is under way. it's called the hajj. it brings millions of muslims together every year. saudi officials say they expect 20% more participants this year than last. new this year is a light rail system to move all the people around. it was an especially deadly day for troops in afghanistan. at least 11 nato troops were killed in a wave of violence. the latest attack came sunday in eastern afghanistan when five service members were killed by militants. most of those who died were u.s. soldiers. the number of american forces in afghanistan has tripled since president obama took office. and we're learning that one of the marines who died last week was the son of a three-star general.

secretary second lieutenant robert kelly died last week in a roadside blast. his father lieutenant john kelly is now the highest ranking officer to lose a child in wars in iraq and afghanistan. the general said his son's body will be met at dover air force base by his other son, a marine captain, and then brought to arlington national cemetery. and britain's prince william paid a visit to u.s. troops and british forces serving in afghanistan. his trip coincided with what's called remembrance day in great britain. that's their version of veterans day. william says he's still hopeful of one day serving in afghanistan like his brother did, but that is considered highly unlikely. back here at home, maybe you saw it. a lighting problem caused delays in the cowboys/giants game. twice during the third quarter, several banks of lights went out forcing a momentary stoppage. the venue will host the super bowl come february 2014. by the way, the cowboys turned out the giants' lights 33-20.

and now this morning's weather from around the country. up to three inches of rain along the gulf coast. drenching houston, mobile. and lighter in nashville and the carolinas. rain and mountain snow in california, wyoming, montana and the dakotas. snow in the cascades. showers meanwhile in spokane and sacramento. >> 50 in boise, 58 in sacramento. fargo and minneapolis hover around 50 degrees. 60s from kansas city. shy of 60 here in new york. 55 in boston and 80 in miami. and when we come back, a big change being announced today by facebook. and back to that family mystery out in ohio. the mother and son missing for days. the daughter found over the weekend bound in a basement. what we could learn later today. and tv's newest reality show gives us a day-to-day look inside the home of sarah palin.

wall street goes to work today looking to rebound from a down week. investors will be looking to some key reports on manufacturing and retail sales, beginning with today's numbers on shopping in october. they'll also get earnings from major retailers this week, including home depot, walmart and target. the dow tumbled 251 points last week with the biggest drop coming friday. meanwhile, the nasdaq fell nearly 61 points.

overseas markets are pretty mixed this morning. tokyo's nikkei climbed 1%. hong kong's hang seng is lower. in london the ftse opened lower. facebook's more than 500 million members could have even more time to spend on the site. they're wildly expected to open their own e-mail system. members will be able that sign at their own at facebook.com addresses. "mega mind" was unstoppable at the box office. the animated movie featuring the voice of will ferrell took in $30 million. "unstoppable" opened in second. "due date slipped to third. hundreds of items once owned by bernie madoff came to auction over the weekend. shoes, books jewelry and other items took in $2 million. the most expensive item, ruth madoff's 10 1/2 carat diamond engagement ring that went for

$500,000. the money will go to victims of madoff's scam. what about the monogrammed underwear? >> i'll confess to that. next on this monday, back on dry land after treading water at sea for a day and a half. and from espn, the best from sunday gridiron. your nfl highlights coming up. sunday highlights coming up. ♪

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use new wisk. fight stains with science. parts of the upper midwest remain covered with more than a foot of wet and heavy snow, after the first major storm of the season. about 8 inches fell in minneapolis-st. paul over the weekend, triggering hundreds of traffic accidents there. but it's already starting to melt, thanks to some warmer weather new blowing through. >> hard to believe it's here. that melting snow froze making for an icy commute. i-80 and i-94. shreveport to atlanta, snow and

ice on i-70 and the central rockies. slick on i-5 from portland to seattle. and if you're flying today, expect airport delays in seattle, salt lake city, houston, new orleans and atlanta. more now on that disturbing kidnapping case near columbus, ohio, a teenage girl is in the hospital after being found tied up in a suspect's basement. >> but what exactly happened to her mother, brother and a family friend who also disappeared. here's chuck sivertsen. >> reporter: in this house, ten miles where four people disappeared, police rescued one of them. 13-year-old sarah maynard is being held in the basement, bound and gagged. >> she was being held against her will. she was in good condition. she was taken to the hospital for evaluation. >> reporter: and they arrested a suspect, 30-year-old matthew hoffman. >> matthew is charged with one count of kidnapping. additional charges are expected to be filed. >> reporter: police aren't sure how hoffman was connected to the missing people. neighbors were stunned. >> all kind of sheriff cars

started pulling up. and s.w.a.t. team came and then the blast i heard. they blasted the door. and went in. >> we did not want to give him time to cause any harm to her so we did use a tactical team. >> reporter: the fate of sarah's mother, tina, her brother codey and family friend stephanie sprang is unknown. the four disappeared last week from this home, where police found an unusual amount of blood. tina's friend stephanie's car was parked in the garage and tina's car was found. search parties have fanned out on foot and planes looked from the skies. dispute the good news, the mystery of three others missing has yet to be solved. chuck sivertsen, abc news. three men are glad to be back home after an ordeal at sea. randy waldorf and two friends left the woft coast of florida on friday for a fishing trip. they ended up treading water in the gulf about 18 hours after the motor on that boat died.

they were finally rescued by a charter fishing boat on sunday. waldorf was met by his very relieved family at the airport last night. and in alaska, vote counting continues in the still undecided senate test. lisa murkowski is getting an overwhelming percentage of the write-in votes. she's expected to take over joe miller as early as today. and a more famous alaskan is getting more face time. sarah palin's show debuted on the learning channel. the eight-part documentary showing palin and her home state is sprinkled with political innuendos. >> todd and his buddies got out there and built a 14-foot fence. and very thankful for that. by the way, i thought that was a good example what we just did, others to look at and say, oh, this is what we need to do to secure our nation's border. >> thor is reece produced by

mark burnett of "survivor" fame shows palin and her daughter keeping her from going up with by a boy. they don't know whether the show will help or hurt a possible run for president come 2012. and any michael jackson song is coming out today. a year and a half, after his death. ♪ tell me what you're waiting for ♪ >> that is michael jackson with rapper producer akon. the single called "hold my hand" was recorded in 2007 and released unfinished on the internet. collaboration with lenny kravitz and fiddy cent will be featured on the album titled "michael." >> and "monday night football" is tonight with the eagles hosting the redskins.

we get the action from espn news. good morning, i'm steve weissman with your espn news update. it was a big sunday in the nfl. mark sanchez and the jets visiting the cleveland browns. less than 30 seconds in overtime, first and ten. sanchez to santonio holmes. that's your game, folks. take another look. the jets hang on and come back to win in o.t., 26-20. they improved 7-2. how about the patriots and steelers. first quarter, no score. pats' opening drive. brady to rob gronkowski, this would be the theme of the game. pats up 7-0. third quarter, 10-3, patriots. brady play action. yep, gronkowski, another touchdown pass. 17-3, new england. but in the third, pats, second and goal. this time, tom takes it in on his own. first rushing touchdown of the year for brady. 23-3. fourth quarter, back to the combo. brady to gronkowski, he has three touchdowns for the season coming in. three in this game.

pats go on to win 39-26, they're 7-2. finally, cowboys and giants, jason garrett debuts as the head coach for dallas. second quarter. giants down 9-3. eli manning. the completion, but it's to bryan mccann and he plays for the cowboys. going to go all the way. team record 100-yard, touchdown on the interception. cowboys win 33-20. just their second win of the year. that's your espn news update. i'm steve weissman. back to you in new york. also from the nfl, the jaguars and texans were headed for overtime but that was until jags' qb david garrard unloaded a 50-yard hail mary bass. boom. mike thomas caught the ball. jacksonville's smallest player, 5'8", turns in the team's biggest play of the year. >> wow. impressive.

coming up next, the stories we're following today, including the return of congress. meaning one member will face the music today. details coming up. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. and celebrex is not a narcotic. when it comes to relieving your arthritis pain, you and your doctor need to balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, including celebrex, may increase the chance of heart attack or stroke, which can lead to death. this chance increases if you have heart disease or risk factors such as high blood pressure or when nsaids are taken for long periods. nsaids, including celebrex, increase the chance of serious skin or allergic reactions

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now says there may be a way to work with the president. and also in the house, new york democrat charles rangel goes on 13 ethics allegations. and we'll get a new look at how the recession is affecting our kid. the new report out today is the large the yet showing the effects on the economy on the well-being of the nation's children. facebook is holding a news conference today where it is expected to unveil a new e-mail service with more than 500 million facebook users already, it could be the biggest in the world. and tonight, diane sawyer anchors "world news" from china. she's talking to locals and checking in on activities shared by hundreds of millions of chinese. english lessons. >> look at those dumplings. coming up later on "good morning america," our exclusive look at the commander in chief's new book of the essay "a letter to my daughters." this is aimed at an audience which can't even vote.

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now, "good morning, maryland." he was doing a favor. but the story behind the life of andy joyce will affect you for the rest of your day. why truckers are in tow. a 17-year-old is charged with robbery and murder after entering mr. wings and pizza. we are live to find out what happened on friday that led to this arrest. and went to church yesterday, right? here's a hail mary answered. there was another prayer answered yesterday. the steelers lost. isn't that nice? good morning, maryland, i am jamie costello. >> i am megan pringle. hope you had a great weekend. >> they went home early, the steeler fans, because they have to work this morning. meteorologist justin berk, what a nice weekend.

don't touch a thing. keep it just like that, okay? step away. >> a little fog this morning. you have to pay the piper here. we have clear skids overnight. moisture ahead of the storm system and we are watching a developing change in our weather pattern. here's the deal. we start off with fog. there may be some restrictions. if so, kim will let you know about that. partly sunny skies expected this afternoon. rain moves in on tuesday and i want to give you a hint there could be flurries by the end of the week. 48 in towson. 45 westminster and bel air. and hanging around 50 around the bay from edgemere at 50 to a bit of fog. skies turn partly sunny. aiming for 60 as the two degree guarantee. big changes in the next coming days. >> reporter: no fog warnings in place as of yet. justin mentioned that fog is moderate to heavy